I am not sure what the deal is with carriers and push to talk. I know AT&T tried it a few years ago and it crashed and burned miserably. Sprint tried to extend the Nextel push to talk network to their own and that also failed. For some reason it looks like Verizon thinks they can succeed where all others have failed other than Nextel. Personally I think the only reason Nextel succeeded was because push to talk was a feature on all Nextel phones and minutes were included on every Nextel plan. If Verizon does not do something similar then nobody will ever bother trying the service.
The rumors started when the BoyGenius mentioned that the upcoming OS 5.0 release for the Tour 9630 would include Push to Talk. The service is supposed to work over the data network for a $5/month fee. To further confirm that rumor the sharp eyed Bla1ze over @CrackBerry noticed that the latest OS leaks for the Tour have included the files necessary for such a feature. Verizon’s mobile website even has a page where you can try and add the service to your account. It could be Verizon was ready to go with this and is in a holding pattern waiting for the 9650 to launch…
In other news the leaked Beta OS for the unreleased BlackBerry 9650 included a user guide with an interesting addition. The user guide called the device the BlackBerry Bold 9650. Maybe RIM is abandoning the Tour name???
DavidB ( View Profile) - Posts: